CPU Voltage drop on every reboot! HELP!

[madbrad]

Hi guys
I have the following system:
DFI LanParty 790FX-M3H5
Phenom II X3 720 BE -unlocked to- Phenom II X4 20
2x2GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600MHz CL8

After a week long session of overclocking, I started getting a 250mV voltage decrease on the processor each time I reboot. The only workaround is to manually set the voltage on each reboot.
I suspect I fried the MOSFETS, but I didn't find how to do a pencil mod on this MoBo.

I also get memory read/write errors, but I always had those and that's a whole different story for another thread.

The chipset temperature is around 45-55 celsius and the cpu temperature is at 35-48 celsius, depending on load.

What I tried and didn't work:
- underclocking the cpu
- overclocking the cpu
- disabling the 4th core
- increasing and decreasing cpu voltage
- adding a better case cooling system and a chipset fan
- cooling the whole room to 20 Celsius
- applying new thermal paste between the cpu and heatsink

 

[EarthDog]

Are you saying that its not saving your settings upon reboot?

 

[madbrad]

Are you saying that its not saving your settings upon reboot?

It saves all settings, but decreases the cpu voltage with 250 mV from the setting that I chose. My luck is that the "save and exit" command in bios does not do a full reboot, and that is the only time when my cpu voltage does not get altered.

 

[EarthDog]

If you enable Load Line Calibration, does this behavior stop?

 

[madbrad]

If you enable Load Line Calibration, does this behavior stop?

I forgot to mention I have no Load Line Calibration option in my MoBo's BIOS, and I have the latest BIOS update (sadly 2009 is the latest one)

 

[RGE]

Have you tried reloading with same bios, in case it is corrupted.

 

[madbrad]

Have you tried reloading with same bios, in case it is corrupted.

No, I haven't tried that, I had no idea it was possible to have my BIOS corrupted. I will try it tonight and I'll tell you how it went.
But will reflashing my bios clear my recorded CMOS profiles? The MoBo can save upto 5 configurations.

 

[EarthDog]

Flashing your bios will wipe out any saved configurations, yes.

 

[RGone]

DFI LanParty 790FX-M3H5 = been a good while since I used that model mobo, but it did not overwrite the CMOS Reloaded settings everytime I flashed a bios.

You have to use their CMOS Reloaded software but you can save all the CMOS Reloaded profiles to hard drive and then Load them back for safety.

EDIT: This is the tool DFI had for saving CMOS Reloaded profiles to a file for import back into bios. I don't see a 'supported' O/S designation. I know it worked with WinXP 32 bit and Vista 64bit, but never tried it with the later Win 7.


Hardware Utility
Revision 1.0.0.5
Description DFI Auto Boost System AP Utility file for Windows XP/Vista/7 32/64 bits.
File ABSTool_1005.exe
Size 16,093 KB
END EDIT.

 

[madbrad]

Well I flashed it and I still get the same result . Any other ideas?

Flashing your bios will wipe out any saved configurations, yes.

 

[RGone]

Clear the CmOs and then Load Optimized defaults and then boot windows and see what the Vcore of the CPU is. Should be about 1.35 to 1.375. If it is not but is lower by 0.25 then the CPU might be failing.

 

[madbrad]

If i load optimized defaults, save and exit, then boot windows, the cpu voltage is fine. If I reboot, cpu voltage is fine. However, if i shut it down and turn it on after 10 min, i get the -0.250 V cpu voltage again. It's like it will only work after "warming up". I still suspect the motherboard, since I get memory read/write errors as well, on all memory voltages and frequencies.

Clear the CmOs and then Load Optimized defaults and then boot windows and see what the Vcore of the CPU is. Should be about 1.35 to 1.375. If it is not but is lower by 0.25 then the CPU might be failing.

 

[RGone]

Well you are at the point of havihg to substitute known good for possible bad so substitute the mobo since you feel it is bad.

 

[madbrad]

Well you are at the point of havihg to substitute known good for possible bad so substitute the mobo since you feel it is bad.

Thanks for the advices, I will substitute the whole internals with Intel cpu/mobo in the near future (I've had it with AMD), but I was hoping to fix these too, for my little brother.
But since I have no other am3 processor or a load line calibration option, it's difficult to say which is the culprit here.
I just hoped someone else had run into this issue so I could get some wisdom from them.

 

[madbrad]

What I'm not sure you understood is that not only the voltage of the cpu drops by 0.25 V, but also the setting that I manually set on the mobo appears changed, as if the MoBo has a mind of its own.

Well you are at the point of havihg to substitute known good for possible bad so substitute the mobo since you feel it is bad.

 

[trents]

What I'm not sure you understood is that not only the voltage of the cpu drops by 0.25 V, but also the setting that I manually set on the mobo appears changed, as if the MoBo has a mind of its own.

On the mobo? Do you mean in the motherboard bios?

 

[madbrad]

On the mobo? Do you mean in the motherboard bios?

Yes, that's what I mean.
Not only do the sensors detect a -250mV drop, but when I check the voltage settings, it's actually set on -250mV, as if someone had manually set it.

 

[RGone]

It's like it will only work after "warming up" = IF (and I don't) I still worked for DFI and you contacted me with your problem, and your had reflashed the bios, the next call would be to RMA the board if it had still been in warranty. There is something wrong with the mobo.

Now if you wanted to crutch around the problem while you round up your other system, you probably could save a CMOS Reloaded profile with the voltage in the profile that you need. Then as the board boots GO directly to CMOS Reloaded and choose the profile with the increased voltage setup in it. Then save and exit and the voltage increase would likely be applied and work. Might get you bye while rounding up your new system.

Beyond that the board is ready for the trash bin is about it.

 

[madbrad]

It's like it will only work after "warming up" = IF (and I don't) I still worked for DFI and you contacted me with your problem, and your had reflashed the bios, the next call would be to RMA the board if it had still been in warranty. There is something wrong with the mobo.

Now if you wanted to crutch around the problem while you round up your other system, you probably could save a CMOS Reloaded profile with the voltage in the profile that you need. Then as the board boots GO directly to CMOS Reloaded and choose the profile with the increased voltage setup in it. Then save and exit and the voltage increase would likely be applied and work. Might get you bye while rounding up your new system.

Beyond that the board is ready for the trash bin is about it.

Well, that's exactly how I've been setting the voltage the last couple of months, by using CMOS reloaded whenever I turn on the PC.

I've ordered a cheapish Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 replacement MoBo, it should arrive tomorrow. By replacing it I'll see if any of the cpu, memory or gpu are also borked.
Aside from the processor voltage, I have the following problems:
- the directX 10 games give me trouble (whole textures disappearing, flickering and other weird behavior). DirectX 9 is fine. Most affected were Crysis and Assassin's Creed.
- I have memory read/write errors on all memory voltages or frequencies.

I'll give you an update when I get to test it in the next couple of days, just for the sake of having closure on the thread.

 

[madbrad]

Well, that's exactly how I've been setting the voltage the last couple of months, by using CMOS reloaded whenever I turn on the PC.

I've ordered a cheapish Gigabyte GA-970A-DS3 replacement MoBo, it should arrive tomorrow. By replacing it I'll see if any of the cpu, memory or gpu are also borked.
Aside from the processor voltage, I have the following problems:
- the directX 10 games give me trouble (whole textures disappearing, flickering and other weird behavior). DirectX 9 is fine. Most affected were Crysis and Assassin's Creed.
- I have memory read/write errors on all memory voltages or frequencies.

I'll give you an update when I get to test it in the next couple of days, just for the sake of having closure on the thread.

I bought and installed the motherboard. But I am now in a bigger pickle than I was before:
- the vdroop is gone
- the memory errors are gone (18 hours of memtest passed)
- the videocard issues are the same
BUT
THE COMPUTER FREEZES!
It freezes randomly on regular windows 7 usage, but I found a few ways to guarantee the freeze:
- running the SiSoftware Sandra Memory Bandwidth test (although memory is fine)
- installing windows updates (this one's weird)
- running the windows experience index assessment test (freezes at random phases of the test, mostly tied to the video card tests)
It even froze once when testing the video performance at windows setup.
So it seems can't be perfectly tied to the video card, the memory works fine outside of windows, the processor performs well in cpustresstest. Could it be the new MoBo or the PSU? or am I wrong here? Which one seems most possible culprit?